


The Angel

by You_Light_The_Sky



Series: Immortality [5]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-13
Packaged: 2018-03-01 05:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2762096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/You_Light_The_Sky/pseuds/You_Light_The_Sky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes when Arthur wakes up, he wants to cry. Sometimes when he does, he thinks he sees golden wings. FINAL in the "Immortality" Series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Angel

**Author's Note:**

> The series is finally over. I'm sorry it took so long, I guess I didn't really want to say goodbye yet. The word prompt for this 1000 word drabble is "family."

Sometimes when Arthur wakes up, he wants to cry. Sometimes when he does, he thinks he sees golden wings.

But then he blinks and they’re gone, probably just hints of sunlight poking through the blinds. He almost fell out of bed the first time he saw them but now he just goes on with his day and tries to wash away the tears in a morning shower.

Gwen and Lancelot avoid his gaze nowadays. Their smiles are strained and they always seem to look next to him, as if searching for someone else, before their smiles become more chipper again (almost too chipper) and Arthur almost wishes someone would say something stupidly funny to ease the tension.

He asked them who Merlin was, once.

They just shook their heads and answered, ‘an old friend, someone who left a long time ago.’

Arthur as the urge to scream then, but he just asked them if they have anything to drink and downed an entire bottle of cheap wine, staining his ears to hear… to hear some sort of admonishment in the silence.

But he heard nothing then. Only the mere hallucination of featherlike touches against his lips and a sad sigh against his ear.

(If sighs were tangible, Arthur would chase them to the ends of the universe until he could bottle that one sigh up for himself and even then—)

Arthur goes to eat breakfast. Arthur lives his life. Arthur just… exists.

-

“The quality of your work has diminished over the past few months, Arthur,” his father frowns from across his wide oak desk.

Arthur just shrugs.

Uther’s brow furrows further.

“This can’t continue, Arthur. It’s unacceptable. Either you bring your work back to Pendragon Company standards or you don’t come back for a week. Whatever is hindering you, I want you to fix it or eliminate it, _now._ ”

Arthur leaves.

(And as he does, he imagines someone else there, giving Uther the finger and hovering by Arthur’s shoulder and Arthur wants to laugh because, of course, his only close friends are those he makes up in his own fucking head.)

-

“Why am I not surprised to find you here when you’re supposed to be relaxing?” Morgana drapes herself on the other side of the booth and steals his drink for him. “You can’t just drown yourself in alcohol, Arthur, that’s hardly ‘fixing’ your problem.”

“Piss off, Morgana,” a clumsy fumble at trying to get his mug back. Morgana raises an eyebrow and downs the drink in front of him. Witch.

“Seriously, what the hell is up with you?”

“Fuck if I know,” Arthur scowls but at Morgana’s look, he forces himself to try and voice the words. “I just… I feel like I… I lost something.”

There. He slumps back in his seat and Morgana just looks like she’s ready to take out the world’s smallest violin for him.

“…Arthur… if you could… if you could find out what it is… would you do it?”

He scoffs, “Don’t you think that if I could have, then I would have done it by now?”

Instead of snapping as she usually does, Morgana just gives him a card.

“What the fuck, Morgana?” it reads ‘Witching Fortunes – run by Morgana and Morgause Avalon.’ “I thought you gave up this shit?”

“You don’t know anything about my life. _Uther_ threw me out, remember? And you don’t bother to call,” she says coolly.

Then why the fuck is she talking with him still? He’s been a shitty family member. He doesn’t get to say as Morgana puts a finger against his lips.

“Look, I owe him,” _owe who?_ “he’s atoned for a lot over our lives… and you’re still my idiot brother. It’s pitiful to see you this way.”

“Wha—”

“When you’re ready… come find me,” she nods at him first and then at the space next to him. Arthur spins around to see who it is but all he sees is his vacant seat and again, gold, what, does Morgana know about—

She’s gone.

 _They all leave_ , he thinks and then, _who the fuck are ‘they’?_

-

Arthur nearly butchers an important meeting with an international client and Uther orders him to take another week off. If Arthur didn’t know any better, he’d say his father was _sorry_ for him. Fuck.

-

Just before he knocks on their door, Morgause opens it and says, “About time, Your Majesty.”

Arthur sneers at the old nickname.

-

It’s not like the movies. No palm reading or tarot cards. Instead, Morgause takes a prick of his blood while Morgana hovers nearby with lit candles and circles carved in the ground. Arthur has have a mind to run out of there ( _do you want to live with me forever_ ) but part of him is screaming yes, this is it, so close, stay—

Morgause mutters unfamiliar ( _golden eyes and big ears say the same_ ) yet familiar incantations and suddenly Arthur is writhing on the floor. Gold wings across his vision and a skinny bloke surrounded in the same light is screaming with him and, gods, what is this, he must be burning please stop…!

“ _Arthur!_ ”

He opens his eyes and the first thing he says is, “Merlin.”

Warm streaks flow down his chin.

-

“…So he’s there…?” Arthur whispers, jittery and twitching at the flickers of gold light he can see near him.

The Avalon sisters just nod.

“I forgot about him. I forgot about _Merlin._ ”

Morgana sighs. “Drink your tea.”

“I… I have to fix this. There has to be a way, you’re magic, _tell me!”_

Morgause and Morgana’s eyes are cool and distant.

“No Arthur. The price has been paid long ago… we just unlocked your memories. You can’t see him anymore. No one can.”

-

Arthur throws his bottles against the ground. He watches the glass shatter and feels the air tingle in gold. He screams and no one can hear him except for the bits of gold and his ever invisible partner and he wishes he was like the glass.

-

“Merlin,” he says in the morning, when he can see the wings the clearest, “Can you hear me?”

He thinks he sees a wave.

Arthur chokes out a smile. His stupid idiot.

**Author's Note:**

> I like to think that Arthur grows more aware of Merlin and they gain some comfort from knowing the other is near. Even if they don't exist on the same plane, at least they aren't alone. 
> 
> Maybe in the next life, Arthur can see him again and they can live together.


End file.
